Improvement in igniting time-fuses of shells



'A- M. SAWYER. IGNITING'TIME FUSE FOR SHELLS.

No. 38,699. Patented Mag 26, 1863.

UNITED STATES P TE T ()FFICE.

ADDISON M. SAWYER, OF FITCHBURG, MASSACHUSETTS.

lMPROVEIVIENI" 1N 'IGNITING TIME-FUSES OF SHELLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No 38.699, dated May 26,1863.

- State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement inFuses for Igniting Ordnance Shells; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the constructionand operation thereof,

taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, making a part ofthis specification, in whichv Figure 1 represents in elevation the fuseapplied to a cylindro-conical Sawyers shell. Fig. 2 represents the samein section. Fig. 3 represents the fuse-stock in plan. Fig. 4 representsthe fulminating-primer in plan, and Fig. 5 a .vertical section of thesame.

The subject-matter of my invention relates to the manner of constructingand applying a detonating-primer for igniting a time-fuse in an ordnanceshell, so that the fuse shall be ignited at the instant of the explosionof the gun by the shock of the discharge. and is desi ned moreparticularly to be used in rifled guns where, from the absence ofwindage, the fuse cannot well be lighted by the flame that escapes pastthe shell in the gun.

My invention consists, in the first place, in constructing upon' theexterior part of the fuse-stock, and immediately adjacent to the time-fuse, an open socket, or its equivalent, for holding adetohating-primer to ignite the timefuse, which is actuated by the jointaction of its own inertia and the first impulse of the discharge of theprojectile, the construction of the socket and primer, respectively,being such that the primer may be placed in the socket at the time ofplacing the shell in the gun, and

My invention also consists in the manner ofconstructing the primer andof holding it in its socket, so that it shall not be either accidentallydisplaced or ignited, and, also, so that it shall not obstruct the freeburning of the time-fuse, nor fire the shell in the'gun by the directaction of the fulminating-powder of the primer, as will be hereinafterexplained.

A is the fuse-stock. It is of the form known as the combination-fuse, ora fuse-stock containing both a time-fuse and a percussionfuse.

B is the cast-iron body of a Sawyer shell,

so called, and C is its soft-metal covering.

D is the plug, which acts as a striker for ex ploding thefulminating-powder E, placed in the cap of the fuse-stock, as shown, andoperates in the same manner as is described in the patent of SylvanusSawyer, dated November 13, 1855. K is the time-fuse case, inserted inthe fusestock in the usual manner, and L the fusepowder.

' M is a small cylindrical socket upon the exterior of the fuse-stock,to receive the fulminating-primer H, for igniting the time-fuse. Theouter or forward part of the socket is slightly beveled upon the inside,at F, to receive the corresponding beveled part of the primer, as isshown more clearlv'at F in Fig.

5. The socket M, just within the beveled part,

, is made of a larger diameter, so that when the enable the projectingbeveled part F to be compressed and pass through the stricture of thesocket M, as before stated. The slight inclination of the beveledsurfaces of the socket and primer, whereth'ey come in contact, enablesthe primer to become fixed in the socket by merely pressing the primerinto it. The shells are intended to be carried into the field loadedandwithlheir fuses in place; but the primers are to be carried by thegunners, and placed in the socket after the shell is placed in themuzzle of the gun, before ramming it home, so that all possible accidentfrom the explosion of the shell by the premature ignition of the primeris prevented. When the gun is fired, the fuse-stock, being driven for-.ward with the shell by a sudden impulse, is,

by the "inertia of the primer, driven past it,

and brings the fulminating-powder in the recess T in contact with theannular projection G on the fuse-stock and around the exposed end of thetime-fuse, which 'ignites'it with certainty. The central opening throughthe primer permits the flame from the fuse to es-- cape freely, and alsopermits theescape of the explosive gases from the fulminating-powder ofthe primer, which otherwise might drive the form, as it may be variouslymodified and still embrace't-he'same principles-as,'for instance, theprimer may be placed upon the outside of thesocket inamannersimilartothe-pereussioncap of a musket and other modifications of a like naturemay be made,and still retain the es sential characteristics of myinvention-which are, first, that the socket or receptacle for the primershall be open or exposed, so that the primer may be placed and confinedin or upon it without any mechanical adjustment; second, that thestriki'ngsurfaces which explode the fulminating-powder of the primershall be kept asunder until the discharge of the gun;

- a I r 39,099

and, third, that the gases from the burning of both the fuse audjtheprimer shall ha e ree escape .v

I am aware thatithas been. proposed to Jgnite a time-fuse by afulminating-primer which was fired by the shock of the explosion of thegun, as is seen in the English patent to Wm. G. Armstrong, dated October1, 1858, No. 779, and therefore do not claim the principle,

broadly; but in that case the primer was.

placed within the fuse-stockand permanently connected therewith,rendering 'i'tliabl'e to ae cidental explosion. 4 What I claim is Theemployment, in combination with a time-. fuse, of an open socket and adetachable fulminating-primer. or their equivalents, co-opera-ting, asdescribed. for the purpose of igniting the time-fuse by the discharge ofthe gun, su bsfautia-ll y as described.

A. M. SA\VYER.'

\Vitnesscs: \VM. 0. HIBBARD,

\V. ST; 0. REDMAN.

